Land area: 3,265,059 sq mi (8,456,511 sq km); total area: 3,286,488 sq mi (8,511,965 sq km)

Population (2006): 188,078,227 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 16.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 28.6/1000; life expectancy: 72.0; density per sq mi: 58

Capital City: Brasília

Monetary unit: Real

Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Ethnicity/race: white (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed white and black 38%, black 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 80%

Brazil is characterized by the extensive low-lying Amazon Rainforest in the north and a more open terrain of hills and low mountains to the south — home to most of Brazil's population and its agricultural base. Along the Atlantic seacoast are also found several mountain ranges, reaching roughly 2,900 metres (9,500 ft) high. The highest peak is the Pico da Neblina at 2,994 metres (9,823 ft), in Guiana's highlands. Major rivers include the Amazon, the largest river in the world by volume, and the second-longest in the world; the Paraná and its major tributary, the Iguaçu River, where the impressive Iguaçu falls are located; the Rio Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and the Tapajós rivers.

Situated on the equator, Brazil's climate is predominantly tropical, with little seasonal variation. Although the subtropical south is more temperate, it occasionally experiences frost and snow. Precipitation is abundant in the humid Amazon Basin, but more arid landscapes are found as well, particularly in the northeast.

Brazilian culture is of a very diverse nature. The religion of most Brazilians is christian. In fact, Brazil is the largest country in the continent whose predominant religion is Roman Catholicism. Many other beliefs over time have been incorporated into the Brazilian catholic belief system such as Spiritism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Ayahuasca, and Judaism as well as religious syncretisms, such as candomblé, umbanda, and macumba, that mix Catholicism with African tribal religions.

Both Brazil and the scotland are large countries whose population was formed by multiple immigration sources from many countries, each one bringing its own culture. But although the Americans pride themselves on the diversity of multiple cultures and their generally peaceful coexistence.

Brazilian architecture has developed as a result of a complex cultural process and architects, both Brazilian and immigrants, have always contributed to breaking the mould of the hallowed form and style. Architecture has been an expression and instrument for modernization during the Colonial, Imperial and Republican periods.

Brazil has many landmarks including the untouched wilderness of the Amazon rainforest and world-class landmarks such as the Iguaçu Falls. In Rio de Janeiro you will find a big statue of an open-armed Jesus on the top of Corcovado Hill, in Salvador you will be greeted with a prestigious collection of colonial architecture, magnificent buildings painted in the original bright colours and baroque churches such as the sparkling Sao Francisco with its astonishing frescoes.